Phoenix Suns' Steve Nash fires back

The Suns' braintrust put Steve Nash in a sticky position when the team made it known before the NBA trade deadline that he would remain a member of the Suns unless he asked to be traded.

Of course, this meant that if he requested a trade it would seem as if he was abandoning his team to chase a ring.

However, by not asking for a trade Nash might seem to accept mediocrity and appear as if he really isn't that interested in winning a championship.

The ball, you might say, was in Nash's hands.

Here's the thing: Have you ever watched Nash before he shoots a free throw?

He flexes his knees, takes a couple of phantom shots, licks his fingers and then asks for the ball.

Every once in a long while, some NBA referee who doesn't know Nash's routine or has had a brain freeze will toss the ball to Nash before he's ready to shoot.

Nash doesn't even hesitate. He just fires that sucker right back at them and goes about his routine (except for the time, captured forever on YouTube, where the ref bounced it right into a sensitive area).

Anyway, that's sort of what Nash has done with his recent media swing back east, in which he made it clear that he won't stay with the team this summer when he becomes a free agent unless he sees a commitment to improve the Phoenix roster.

You might say he fired that sucker right back at them.

This may or may not have been precipitated by the team's so-so effort to sign Boris Diaw when Charlotte bought out his contract and let him go, depending on whether you believe Peter Vescey's report in the New York Post.

What we do believe is that Nash would be rankled if he thought Diaw could be the difference in the Suns making the playoffs or not making them and believed the front office failed to make a real effort to get him.

We also know that although Nash might take a diplomatic approach, he will not be satisfied serving as "the face of the franchise" if it means only that his face is selling tickets with no realistic hope to compete for a championship.

Because although Nash might say winning a title isn't his end all, we have seen first hand just how much he loves to win and wants his team to succeed.

It was the summer of 1999, just more than a year after the Suns had traded Nash to Dallas, and he was trying to lead Canada to a berth in the 2000 Olympics at the FIBA Americas Championship in Puerto Rico.

Only the top two teams received a berth to the Games in Sydney, Australia, and the United States was a shoo-in for the top spot.

That meant Canada had to finish ahead of eight other teams, including host Puerto Rico.

Canada's chances came down to a semifinal game against the Puerto Ricans before a raucous crowd at Roberto Clemente Coliseum.

Nash carried the Canadians to victory that night, and afterward he looked like Jim Valvano when North Carolina State shocked Houston for the 1983 NCAA title.

He needed somebody to hug.

Nash spotted a familiar face in the corridor outside the Canadian locker room, sprinted over and lifted a rather embarrassed newspaper correspondent into the air.

"We're going to the Olympics!" Nash screamed.

There are two things we have never forgotten about that moment.

One, the sheer joy on Nash's face.

Second, he said "we."

Reach The Heat Index at 602-444-8271 or bob.young@arizonarepublic.com.